An expert panel has voted overwhelmingly to recommend the US Food and Drug Administration authorises the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, saying the benefits of the shot outweigh the risks.

An authorisation for that age group would be an important regulatory step towards reaching about 28 million children for inoculation, most of them back in school for in-person learning.

The vaccine could be available to the younger age group as soon as next week. The FDA is not obligated to follow the advice of its outside experts but usually does. The vote was 17 in favour with one abstention.

Read more from Reuters here.